Oven opening and arch - regular clay brick? Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Oven opening and arch - regular clay brick? in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hi. Can I used regular clay bricks for the oven opening and arch or should I use firebricks? I have ...

[pizzahead]

Hi. Can I used regular clay bricks for the oven opening and arch or should I use firebricks? I have a heap of old recycled clay bricks that will look great and fit in with our backyard.

See attached design.

Cheers
Jase

[Dutchoven]

Jase
If you are referring to an outer arch...not the actual oven door/vent there should be no problem. I would recommend maybe insulating the lower bricks in that arch from the oven bricks as they would otherwise get pretty warm. The upper bricks of the arch that will hold the concrete chamber will get warm but it won't be an issue...I don't think..our oven has that type of brick in the outer arch and they get pretty warm...160F but other than that it isn't a problem
Best
Dutch

[nissanneill]

Jase,
regular clay bricks are fired at well over the temperatures that your oven will achieve let alone your front decorative arch and transition, so go for it.
Search out a few decorative ones and add a special aged feature. I mean some of the older brick profiles that were available and used for those special appearance features in the houses built 80 to 100 years ago especially in and around Old Adelaide.

Neill

[pizzahead]

What would be the best way to insulate these bricks? and do I need to insulate them?

Thanks
Jase

[Les]

Jase, if you are talking about the decorative brick on the front of your oven - no worries. It gets warm, but it's closer to ambient than the where the heat leaves the oven. I even used type S mortar there and haven't see any problems.

Les...

[pizzahead]

Thanks Les. Didnt want anyone to get a burnt hand from the decorative entrance at the front of the oven.

Cheers
Jase